CMA secures fairness commitments from Apple and Google for UK app stores

• The regulator says the commitments will deliver immediate improvements without a lengthy formal process.
• Apple and Google have agreed to ensure app reviews are fair, objective and transparent.
• Epic Games says the CMA’s commitments do not go far enough to deliver real competition in mobile app stores.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has secured a package of commitments from Apple and Google aimed at improving fairness, transparency and certainty in app store processes for developers.

The proposals mark the first changes secured since the CMA designated both companies’ mobile platforms with strategic market status under the UK’s digital markets competition regime in October last year. 

The regulator said the commitments are designed to deliver immediate improvements without the need for a lengthy formal process, pending consultation.

Under the measures, Apple and Google have agreed to ensure app reviews and app rankings are conducted in a fair, objective and transparent way, without discriminating against rival apps or giving preferential treatment to their own services. 

Moreover, both companies are committed to safeguarding developer data collected during the app review process and not using it unfairly. Apple has also committed to fairly considering developer requests for interoperable access to features within iOS and iPadOS.

Competition concerns 

The CMA said it will monitor compliance closely, publishing metrics including app approval rates, review times, complaints data and interoperability requests.

However, Fortnite maker Epic Games has criticised the CMA’s announcement, arguing that the commitments secured from Apple and Google do not go far enough to open up the mobile ecosystem to genuine competition.

“The commitments Apple and Google made to the UK Competition and Markets Authority fail to open the mobile app ecosystem to real competition,” Epic Games said in a post. 

“Gatekeepers continue to block competing app stores and payment systems with outright prohibitions as well as scare screens and junk fees. 

“The agreed changes won’t correct the core anticompetitive business practices that the US courts and the European Union are addressing. The CMA must prioritise addressing these barriers to competition in order for UK consumers to gain the benefits of real competition that everyone deserves.